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Ramos Caps Off Cross Country Career With All-American Finish at NCAA's

Senior Austin Ramos capped off his cross country career with an All-American finish at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, IN on Monday to lead a trio of Bruins competing as individuals at the meet. Liberty's Josh McDougal won the men's individual title, while Oregon captured the team crown.

Ramos ran 30:31.2 over the 10k race to finish 32nd overall as he earned the second cross country All-American honor of his career. It was also the third time Ramos has received All-American honors as he finished 10th at the 2007 outdoor championships in the 5000m.

'We're really proud of Austin's performance,' said head coach Eric Peterson. 'He bounced back from an uncharacteristically off performance at the regional meet to run a really strong race. With about 3k to go in the race, he was in 19th place. He had a shot at pressing into the top-12, but started to feel the effects of the race. Aerobically, he felt great, but his legs felt heavy. He worked very hard over the final 3k, but lost a few places to finish 32nd.

Other than being the individual national champion, earning an All-American honor is the highest accolade you can get in a race like this. He led us again with strength and competitiveness and ran very well today.'

Kyle Shackleton finished in 96th-place (31;06.0), while his twin brother Drew came in at the 104th spot in a time of 31:09.0. This was Kyle's final cross country race, while Drew will return next season for his senior year.

'Kyle and Drew continued to run well,' noted Peterson. 'They both ran similar races to what they ran at the Pac-10 and West Region meets. It would have been awesome to have the team running with these guys because I think we would have been able to place well. It's very difficult to compete in this race as an individual because you have a lot of guys competing for their teams. We're out there competing as a small unit, but not a complete team.

'I'm excited for them because they have continued to show show they can consistently run in the higher level meets. For Kyle, its' a respectable conclusion to his cross country career and it gives him something to build on as he looks forward to the 2008 season as one of our team leaders.'